Those 'Vote-Flipping' Machine Videos Are From 2014, 2018 and 2019, Reuters Finds - and the Machine Isn't Used Anywhere Anymore
Three clips shared on X in October as evidence of vote-flipping in the 2026 midterms show an obsolete touchscreen in old races, a Reuters Fact Check investigation found - and no state has used that machine since 2024.
On the eve of Election Day, some of the most-shared 'evidence' of vote-flipping in the 2026 midterms turns out to be years old. Reuters Fact Check examined three video clips posted to X on October 21 and 22 that purport to show touchscreen machines switching votes in the current election, and found that the clips were originally uploaded in November 2014, August 2019 and November 2018 - in each case showing errors that were detected and corrected at the time, in races that have nothing to do with the current vote.
The machine in the clips is the AccuVote TSX, a direct-recording device made by Premier Election Systems, formerly Diebold. Based on the Verified Voting registry of current voting equipment, Reuters found that no US state has used the AccuVote TSX since 2024. The three jurisdictions in the old clips - Tippecanoe County, Indiana; Lafayette County, Mississippi; and the City of Virginia Beach, Virginia - have reported no machine mishaps during the current election cycle, and Virginia Beach officials told Reuters that all of the city's 2026 midterm ballots are paper.
Reuters' verdict is 'Miscaptioned': the years-old videos do not support claims of widespread vote flipping in the present election cycle. For Leon County voters heading to assigned precincts on Tuesday, the practical lesson of the file is the one election officials repeat every cycle - judge a viral clip by its date and its source before treating it as news about this election.
